With the addition of the 14 new suspected cases it is very plausible that not only can the Zika virus be transmitted by mosquito bites, but also by sexual contact.
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According to the New York Times, if it is confirmed that Zika was spread through sexual contact, the surprisingly high number of cases would have major implications for controlling the disease. Though mosquito control officials say they have yet to detect the virus in mosquitoes in the United States, experts say it’s expected to arrive this spring as the weather warms and becomes more hospitable for the insects.
The Zika virus can be spread from a pregnant woman to her fetus.
It said: “Eight other cases are still under investigation”.
When nations including El Salvador, Ecuador, Brazil, Colombia, and Jamaica warned women to put off getting pregnant until more was known about Zika, the realities of reproductive rights in the region came under the spotlight.
A sterile female Aedes aegypti mosquito is seen on the forearm of a health technician in a research area to prevent the spread of Zika virus and other mosquito-borne diseases. An estimated 80 per cent of people infected have no symptoms, making it hard for pregnant women to know whether they have been infected. If a man resides in or traveled to one of more than 30 countries and regions where Zika is persisting, he should use condoms or abstain from sex. Some of the patients are pregnant women, the report relays.
“For several weeks now, travelers with potential exposure to Zika virus have been returning home to the continental USA with a few to be later diagnosed”, said Linda S. Vail, Ingham County Health Officer.
On Feb. 1, the World Health Organization declared the virus and its link to the birth defects a public health emergency.
On Tuesday, the CDC added two more countries, Trinidad and Tobago and the Marshall Islands, to its Zika virus travel advisory.
The CDC published guidelines on February 12, 2016 to help prevent the sexual transmission of the Zika virus.
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Despite global fears of pregnant women delivering babies with microcephaly if they contract the Zika virus, one new mother just gave birth to a “clinically healthy” baby.
